
Marc, a diligent ad‑agency executive, wakes one morning haunted by a vivid night‑time vision. In the dream, a strikingly bold girl named Toffee drags him into a sun‑drenched meadow, teasing him with flirtation and daring antics. Their banter is light‑hearted, but the atmosphere shifts when Toffee’s playful tug on a lone tree turns the whole landscape into a trembling, bell‑like pendulum.
The tree’s violent sway catapults Marc into a surreal ascent, soaring above the earth as the world below quivers like a giant seesaw. He watches, bewildered, as Toffee races after him through the void, her voice echoing his name. The experience ends abruptly when he jolts awake, the alarm clock clanging back to reality.
Now back in his bedroom, Marc can’t shake the lingering sense of wonder—and a growing curiosity about the mysterious Toffee. As he sifts through his memories, the line between ordinary life and dream‑world begins to blur, promising an unexpected journey ahead.
Language
en
Duration
~48 minutes (46K characters)
Series
Toffee
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
Chicago, IL: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 1946.
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2023-09-13
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1920–2006
Best known for the dark, unforgettable novel behind What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, this American writer built a career on suspense, horror, and sharp psychological drama. He also wrote for film and television, helping bring several of his stories to the screen.
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